I love the flexibility and the ability to purchase whatever whenever with iTunes.  

However, when i try to share the library with other members of the household, i find it useless of having one central library that we can all access rather than having local copies of the same library on each others computers.  Even if this one central store is on a Time Capsule. 

It does make you think that still having CD's gives you the most flexibility: for example you only have one of Fiona Apples Tidal, and whoever can borrow it.

Just my 2c.

Michael.

Michael:

I love the flexibility and the ability to purchase whatever whenever with iTunes.  

However, when i try to share the library with other members of the household, i find it useless of having one central library that we can all access rather than having local copies of the same library on each others computers.  Even if this one central store is on a Time Capsule. 

It does make you think that still having CD's gives you the most flexibility: for example you only have one of Fiona Apples Tidal, and whoever can borrow it.

 

Just my 2c.

Michael.

You can use the home sharing feature in Itunes for easily sharing the full library within a household.

You can also authorize other computers and move digital content purchased from iTunes to these, if you want to take it with you out of where your network is.

Or you can use the shell CLI and share it amongst any and all users w/ full ownership rights.

cooldude:

You can use the home sharing feature in Itunes for easily sharing the full library within a household.

Yeah.. but if you setup the home sharing, don't you have to move the songs to the library on the other device?  EG: if the master share is on my imac and want to access on my MacBook Pro, don't i have to move them to the MBP?

No need to move anything.

you can even stick them all on a time capsule and share with everyone , i do

hi flappo,

your message intrigues me. when i set up my system a few years ago, this is what i had in mind. but sharing was a lot less implemented back then. i have not had the time to look seriously at the new home sharing options in itunes 9. for the moment, i have a simple script that copies the music from my main computer to the mac mini i use as a media server.

i would love to know more about how you set up your system and how it functions. for example, is it possible to only have music in the shared repository or does it copy music for a distant to a local directory ? is it possible to share all music, or only music bought through the apple store ? are there any problems of concurrent use, can i add music to the shared library from one computer while playing music from the same library on another ? how do you make it work with time capsule, do you have to parition a new drive ? etc...

thanks for any light you can shed on this subject !

scott

Flappo:

you can even stick them all on a time capsule and share with everyone , i do

Thanks everyone for their comments, I understand I can also save it on the Time Capsule, but in essence, if the songs are stored here, and I play from my imac (master library), and if i want to connect to this same library from my MBP, it will find it, but it will copy songs to the libary on the MBP which I don't want.  I don't want localised versions of the same, just access to one version of the truth. 

With the sharing feature, albeit good, it still requires the master computer to be on, which to me is pointless. 

However, I think I have success and found a site where a person has tried which I've attached for other peoples interest. :-)

Michael:

With the sharing feature, albeit good, it still requires the master computer to be on, which to me is pointless. 

 

The server (wether a nas or serving computer) always need to be on and available for a network like that to work.

I have my itunes on my NAS, (which is always ) and streams to all my other locations. (imac, appletv, mac mini and Airport express.)
Itunes is only used as the 'library management' and mainly use plex as media interface.

1. If you have a NAS, you can set up iTunes in one computer so that all your "iTunes Music" (the whole iTunes directory) is not on the computer, but on the NAS. Setting this on multiple computers may work, but I'm not sure... You'll have to test, but make a backup of your library before, it can be corrupted. You then have access to all your music as if it where located in the computer's hard drive.

2. If your NAS has an iTunes Server installed (and running), you can acces to the NAS iTunes library without doing anything : just connect to the network with any PC/Mac, and in iTunes, under "shared libraries", the name of the NAS appears. You get all your music, but on every NAS I've tried (mainly WD and LaCie), you don't have access to covers and "stars" evaluations. You can play the song you want on the computer you want, simultaneously.

3. If your NAS has an UPNP server installed (and running), you can access to the NAS iTunes library (and video library, and image library) from A LOT of devices : Mac/PC softwares such as Windows Media Player or VLC, but, more interresting, from a PS3, a TVIX (with network functionnality), a WD TV Live, a Sonos system (which works great directly connected to beolabs!), some Logitech Squeezebox players (may also works great with beolabs, but maybe with a lower sound quality than Sonos), or even a Linn Klimax DS, if you want to spend all your money on expensive audiophile stuff (and high definition files) . All those devices should work with all your (unprotected)  music (protected songs will only work with iTunes and the iTunes server of point 2), showing album covers (but unfortunately not star evaluation, as it's an Apple-only protocol). Of course you can play different songs/movies simultaneously (as long as your network does not cry...)
But there is more : all UPNP compatible devices can be controlled by UPNP softwares (like PlugPlayer on the iPhone) on iPhone/iPod/other devices (from all the devices cited above, the only one you can't control is the PS3) :  you can browse your library, select a song (Covers are displayed), and play it on the device you want, even if you're not in the same room.

mbee:

2. If your NAS has an iTunes Server installed (and running), you can acces to the NAS iTunes library without doing anything : just connect to the network with any PC/Mac, and in iTunes, under "shared libraries", the name of the NAS appears. You get all your music, but on every NAS I've tried (mainly WD and LaCie), you don't have access to covers and "stars" evaluations. You can play the song you want on the computer you want, simultaneously.

My old (HP) NAS did serve covers to my mac mini/plex and ATV without a hitch. 
However later I did put my itunes on a separate HD (due to space problems) connected directly to the airport extreme. Seems to be serving covers and stars just fine. Could it be having that HD mac formatted is what might be avoiding those problems for me ? 
All my music is ripped from my cd's (which I keep as hard copies)  I do not use the Itunes store. 

HD formatting should'nt change anything, as the only protocol that the Mac "see" is the network protocol (FTP/AFP/Upnp/iTunes server...)

When using a NAS with iTunes server, you got covers, but only of the played song (you can't have coverflow or album view in iTunes, you just have the list mode), and I've never seen a working star rating on a server : I think that iTunes server is always read only.

What you have set up seems to be closer to my 1. solution : you didn't use any iTunes server running on the NAS, you just put your entire music collection on the NAS and set up iTunes so that its library is not on the computer HD but on the NAS.

mbee:

What you have set up seems to be closer to my 1. solution : you didn't use any iTunes server running on the NAS, you just put your entire music collection on the NAS and set up iTunes so that its library is not on the computer HD but on the NAS.

I have indeed the Itunes master library on the NAS which does not seem to bother the imac,mac mini or ATV.
Haven't checked if the stars thing works, but the covers seem to work, even in itunes coverflow mode.

Currently no longer use itunes for playback, but use either plex or linkplayer's own playback system.  

cooldude:

use either plex or linkplayer's own playback system.

what do you see as the pros and cons ?

I like using plex as it's the one interface that does-it-all....
I know plex takes some time setting up and some maintenance to make it work flawless.
It's also highly customizable. (think aeon or alaska skins) 

However it's the one interface my wife likes and is able to figure out easily. (she hates the 'kiddie' ATV interface as well...)
the linkplayer is good and fast to start, but lacks the visual factor  and also leans very much onto ones knowledge of the beo4 remote.

Plex by its nature is very simple to control as it uses only 6 buttons for main control, easily simulated on the beo4 with linkplayer. 
However the linkplayer app looks great on the ipod touch....

I guess it depends on wether to have a tv screen on or not and the use of the beo4 or ipod touch to flip through playlists/songs

I have started using Plex (under LinkPlayer) for its iTunes music interface ... I select albums now and queue them rather than individual songs as one does with iTunes ... (it maybe iTunes has a hidden album queue feature) ... certainly that's how the past 3 days of music has been um orchestrated :)

Did you mean ATV or did you mean Front Row was not acceptable to your wife ?

And I think Plex's fan art etc is great for helping one to ease into the ambiance of the experience ... particularly if you are doing a TV series catch-up

I tried a free PLEX iPhone control remote yesterday ... and I can't get it to work ... and it looks awful ... by contrast Philippe has done a fantastic job

elephant:

I have started using Plex (under LinkPlayer) for its iTunes music interface ... I select albums now and queue them rather than individual songs as one does with iTunes ... (it maybe iTunes has a hidden album queue feature) ... certainly that's how the past 3 days of music has been um orchestrated :)

Pretty much the same here.  We also have a select number of playlists made, depending on our mood. 

elephant:

Did you mean ATV or did you mean Front Row was not acceptable to your wife ?

Both.. she finds the frontrow interfaces just too 'kiddie' like (frontrow) , too complicated (boxee) and/or unfinished/unpolished and hates it when the filenames are visible. The updated ATV interface fairs a tad better. She expects more of a B&O/apple setup.

She loves the Beosound5 interface though... and wished something as smooth and interactive like it. 
Loves the interface and fluid interaction of her ipad as well. Plex is the closest thing yet.

Can't blame her to wish for a UI that's far away from regular computer interface, as she sits in front of one all day at work.
Also the customization of plex (I did put in some tweaks) makes for a more personal system.
Last thing I did was downloaded some of my wife's favourite art and put that up as plex screensaver. (which kicks in after 10 minutes of inactivity)
Making our Kuro plasma look like a (revolving) piece of art when entertaining our guests and the audio is playing. 

elephant:

I tried a free PLEX iPhone control remote yesterday ... and I can't get it to work ... and it looks awful ... by contrast Philippe has done a fantastic job

I don't use that one as Philippe's linkplayer app is indeed a much better option for plex.
However only using the beo4 for controlling plex nowadays... just faster and easier. Simplicity is key.

cooldude:

Last thing I did was downloaded some of my wife's favourite art and put that up as plex screensaver. (which kicks in after 10 minutes of inactivity)
Making our Kuro plasma look like a (revolving) piece of art when entertaining our guests and the audio is playing. 

! exactly what I started doing this weekend, I have some 7,000 images of classic art that I loaded on to the MacMini, and yesterday I showed my wife how to get the Pictures section of Plex going ... she's even enjoy them in "silence" when the music has run out

elephant:

cooldude:

Last thing I did was downloaded some of my wife's favourite art and put that up as plex screensaver. (which kicks in after 10 minutes of inactivity)
Making our Kuro plasma look like a (revolving) piece of art when entertaining our guests and the audio is playing. 

! exactly what I started doing this weekend, I have some 7,000 images of classic art that I loaded on to the MacMini, and yesterday I showed my wife how to get the Pictures section of Plex going ... she's even enjoy them in "silence" when the music has run out

LOL ...yep!
Works indeed great as screensaver with plex audio running in the background.
Flipping right back to plex mode when touching the ipod or pressing something on the beo4.

Another change I made lately in Plex is the day/night mode with the screen displaying brighter background template (white in my case) during the day and a darker black/bluetoned template at night. A very nice idea which works out very well.

sounds cool dude